Imagine for a moment that you belong to a race of people who have for thousands of years done nothing but engage in constant warfare. The only art you know of is a weapon’s design, the only music the sound of gunfire. Then one day a man and a woman demonstrate how to kiss… and in the same day introduce you to the Beatles, youtube memes, the David, ice cream sundaes and every single episode of Sex in the City. The last episode of Macross Frontier is sort of like that except with more explosions and naked, neon women.
I’d go so far as to say that it doesn’t even matter whether or not this episode was any good from a storytelling standpoint (it wasn’t). What matters is that it was a nonstop 210 mph in your face experience. “Deculture!” indeed.
I knew all the stops were going to pulled out when the giant floating Ranka turned out to be Battle Galaxy… which is, why am I not surprised, the same pink shade as Brera’s VF. Actually it was at this point that I started cackling gleefully and could not stop until the very end. I had this same problem the previous episode when Leon’s just as planned face derailed me so completely that everything after that seemed hilarious.
About three minutes in I stopped caring about the plot. Coherent thought simply became too much of a chore, what with Grace controlling the vajra queen through the use of tentacles and the characters engaging in a frenetic battle complete with cheesy one-liners (“I’m going to take back your true song!”) and lots of screaming.
The beauty of the ending in Macross: Do You Remember Love? is that for a little over 6 minutes, during one of the greatest montages I’ve ever seen, Minmay sang one complete song. Just one. What we got in Frontier was an extended remix of every single song Sheryl or Ranka have ever sung. Even “My Boyfriend is a Pilot” because Kawamori knows we didn’t get enough kyuun kyuun in the original Macross. The result is a cacophonous medley that should not be listened to by pregnant women, the elderly or anyone suffering from a heart condition.
There was a ton of fanservice for Macross fans this episode. Not only was the entire thing one giant, glorious battle but we got the Macross Attack, Macross City, more slapping (this time with Ranka repaying the favor) and of course a brief appearance of Minmay in a locket portrait. I’m just sorry she didn’t leap through time and space and appear in person. Honestly I was half expecting it.
So fold quartz and vajra germs now allow you to transcend your body and float around in a black hole full of triangles? And how did Ranka suddenly become Jesus and heal Sheryl? You know what, forget I asked.
The episode where we got trolled with pineapple cake should have prepared me but I simply cannot believe that after 25 episodes the love triangle is still as unresolved as it was in the beginning. The best ending would have been if Sheryl had won Alto’s heart and she did… but so did Ranka and the sky. I guess that makes it a love square? Maybe it’ll be resolved in the movie but I’m not holding my breath.
So, it’s finally over…
I know there’s a lot of Macross fans who have been severely disappointed in Frontier and I can see where they’re coming from. There’s a whole slew of criticisms I could level at the show: inconsistent animation quality, not enough space battles, rather lame villains, minor characters who weren’t developed enough, and I feel Alto never really came into his own and was overshadowed by the girls’ personalities.
That’s a pretty long list but Frontier did do a few things right. Though Sheryl was the far more appealing character to me I liked both her and Ranka and I liked that they were both idols. Kawamori re-used a lot of Macross cliches, even if there was usually some kind of twist, but this at least felt new and refreshing. As for the music, it was great and I’ll be listening to the soundtrack for a while to come.
I think the problem people are having with Frontier is that it didn’t quite live up to everything it could have been but still, I enjoyed it. It just could’ve been better. At the very least I had fun with it and was constantly entertained which is what counts.
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Well, remember those paintings that Nanase did? I actually thought the tie in of how the Vajra wanted to communicate with us worked well with how the Vajracteria infect your brain (and eventually kill you). But if you can learn to sing with your belly, everything will be alright!
Kabitzin: Hah, yes. So I guess that would make Nanase Ranka’s first disciple? Frankly I was just glad they gave us an explanation for Ranka’s glowing stomach that didn’t involve something disgusting like uh little Ai-kuns.
I think they really rushed the last episode. There was a lot of info to take in, and Brera and Alto suddenly being able to work together … desperate times call for desperate measures I guess.
I have to say I felt much the same way. I was so distracted by all loud music and the pretty light show the plot and love triangle sort of became secondary to me.
It’s all deculture to me. My friend and I talk incessantly about how much better Furo would be if X happened or Y was done differently, but to me all is well. I’m so thankful that it happened at all.
Is there more to the fanservice? Maybe these will only be apparent to those like me who want to read more into it. Nonetheless, happiness abounds in this quarter of anime fandom.